


The R.A.E.S Protocol

by KandiSheek



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Coulson Lives, Gen, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, If You Squint - Freeform, Imposter, Manipulative Nick Fury, Minor Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Post-Avengers (2012), Team Bonding, because I say so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:35:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KandiSheek/pseuds/KandiSheek
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy mission but the villain of the week turns out to be a much bigger threat than they originally thought. Tony can only watch helplessly as the man steals his face and tries to take down the rest of the Avengers in Iron Man's name. To Tony's surprise the team subdues the fake Iron Man in a matter of minutes, referring to a protocol Tony didn't even know existed.It really hurts when he realizes that the team was always prepared to take him down if necessary. Tony knows that they didn't get off to the best start but he never would have expected anything like this.Don't the Avengers trust him at all?





	The R.A.E.S Protocol

**Author's Note:**

> Coulson is alive because fuck you MCU, I do what I want. Also I love writing him so there, that's all the reason I need. Rated M for some pretty foul language.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this one! Thanks for reading!

Tony slurped his coffee, savoring the taste as it burned deliciously down his throat. Birds were chirping. Flowers were blooming. Robots were taking over New York.

Must be a Tuesday.

“I think this is my stop,” he said lazily, crumpling the foam cup in a metal fist as he stood to walk over to the quinjet's hatch. “Thanks for the ride.” He tossed the cup at a nearby SHIELD agent who saluted him before he clapped Tony on the shoulder. Huh, weird guy.

Steve frowned at him from the cockpit. “Don't engage until we get the–“

“Yeah yeah, wait for the cavalry, got it,” Tony said as he put the faceplate down and took off, looping around the jet to pull ahead.

He heard Coulson sigh heavily over the comms. “Just keep the property damage to a minimum this time. Those bills don't pay themselves.”

“Seeing as I'm the one paying for them I don't know why you need to point that out,” Tony said, checking his sensors. “Okay, coming up on targets in three... two... one...”

He swerved around a skyscraper and right into a barrage of fire which did very little to damage the suit.

“Wow you're useless,” he said, sending a missile into the fray that took out most of the robots in one fell swoop. Tony scoffed. “They could've at least made an effort. That plating is just shoddy.”

“Chatter,” Steve said exasperatedly and Clint snorted.

“They _are_ pretty ugly.”

“I know, right?” Tony lamented. “I know bad guys are all about firepower but you don't have to make your robots look like oversized dog toys.”

“ _Chatter_ ,” Steve repeated and Tony sighed. No one ever let him have any fun. “Iron Man, I need you up top. See if you can find out where they're coming from.”

“Aye aye, Cap,” Tony said, saluting half-heartedly even though Steve wouldn't see it. He took off down the street, blasting a line through a gaggle of robots on the ground before he pulled up towards the sky. His sensors didn't show any anomalies yet but there had to be –

Tony frowned when some of the camera feeds on his HUD flickered and shut off. He tried to gain remote access but found that the transmission was completely cut off. “What the hell?”

“What's wrong?”

“The surveillance cameras are shot. I can't tap into them.” Tony tried to pull up the live footage from SHIELD's cameras but there was nothing. “JARVIS?”

“I can't access any of the usual systems, Sir. Something seems to be blocking the signal.”

“We're flying blind, too,” Coulson suddenly said. He didn't sound happy. “All surveillance in a fifty mile radius is down.”

Well, that wasn't good. “Any idea what's causing it?”

“Judging by the radius whatever it is should be about ten blocks from where you are.”

A symbol blipped on his radar as JARVIS finished the same calculation and Tony took off towards it. “I'll check it out.”

“Be careful.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yes, mother.”

He circled the area which happened to be an old indoor swimming pool. There was nothing unusual on the outside except the fact that the windows had been blacked out. Bingo.

“I think I'll have to go in.”

“We've just landed,” Steve said and indeed Tony could hear the sound of fighting on their end now. “Wait for backup before you proceed.”

Tony was just about to say thanks, he'd take his chances, when a proximity alert suddenly flared to life on the HUD.

“Sir, I'm picking up a surge of energy to your left.”

Tony turned and sure enough there was a massive energy source on his sensors. It looked like it came from the roof of a nearby skyscraper.

“What is it, J?” Tony asked and flew up high enough to see a blinking orange light on his heat sensors, similar to the lights on the robots that – Son of a bitch! “JARVIS, is that what I think it is?”

“It appears to be a transmitter, Sir.”

Which meant that the robots were remote controlled. And it was absolutely possible that their signal was somehow interfering with the other transmissions in the area. Whoever the villain was Tony would probably find him tucked away in a tiny control room right over there.

“Iron Man, we need you on sixth.” Steve suddenly said and Tony swerved left instead, towards the skyscraper.

“I can't right now. Get Hawkeye down there.”

“Iron Man,” Steve repeated, both admonishing and exasperated, and Tony bristled.

“Listen, Cap. I'm getting a signal from something that looks like –”

The HUD went black.

“What –“ was all Tony managed to say before an electric shock rattled his entire body, zinging pain ripping through his muscles. For a moment he was sure it would rip him apart but then it suddenly stopped and his body abruptly went lax. Which only enhanced the dizziness as he started to drop and oh god, he couldn't move, he was going to fall –

Something hit him with enough force to break his momentum and pushed him sideways towards the closest building. He crashed through a wall and landed hard, skidding across the floor until he was brought to a stop by the opposite wall. Tony groaned pitifully. He could barely see with how much his vision was swimming, everything hurt and –

“Mr Stark. Nice to see you again.”

Fuck. Looks like the villain had found _him_ instead. Tony could just barely make out the shape of him through the faceplate's eye slits, tall enough to block out the light from the doorway. The man was carrying a large bag over his shoulder.

“Who –“ Tony tried to ask and broke into a painful coughing fit. He could taste copper on his lips.

“No no, don't try to talk, Mr Stark. You took a nasty fall, some of your ribs must be broken.” The villain came close enough that Tony could see his face and – oh fuck, it was the SHIELD agent, the one who had clapped him on the shoulder –

A mole?

He twisted his head to look and sure enough there was a tiny device on his shoulder, still crackling with electricity. Motherfucker.

“My name is Jürgen Eichmann, not that I expect you to remember it,” Eichmann said conversationally as he pulled a needle from his bag. “We met a few years back. You left... quite the impression.”

Tony gasped for air, desperately fiddling with the controls in the armor's fingers but nothing responded. Fuck. “I have no doubt,” he coughed, trying not to let his panic show. “I always... try to impress –“

“Oh, you most certainly will now,” Eichmann said almost kindly. “We'll have a lot of fun together, you and I. Not as much as your friends will though.”

Tony's blood ran cold. “What have you done to them?”

“Nothing yet,” Eichmann said and Tony tried to flinch away when his hand came up to fiddle with the Iron Man helmet. The faceplate retracted and Tony took a huge breath, coughing when the air went down wrong.

Eichmann tutted, patting Tony's cheek. “Poor thing. Don't worry, I have no interest in watching you die just yet.”

“Well that's a relief,” Tony rasped sarcastically. “Because I totally –“ He choked on his remark when Eichmann suddenly plunged the needle into his neck, pushing god knows what into his bloodstream.

“Shh,” Eichmann hushed him gently, pulling back his sleeve to look at his watch – and Tony could feel a coldness spread from his neck to his chin, his chest, his entire body in a matter of seconds, paralyzing him with fear. Fear that became panic when he realized that no, he actually _was_ paralyzed, face stiff and limbs unresponsive. Tony could taste bile in the back of his throat.

“The response time is great, hm? No worries, it won't do any lasting damage.” Eichmann smiled. “If you're found that is.”

Tony gave him the fiercest glare he could muster and Eichmann looked at him for a moment before he slapped Tony hard across the face. Tony's head turned to the side with the force of it and while it definitely hurt none of his muscles responded to the blow in any way. It was fucking terrifying.

Eichmann chuckled as he grabbed Tony's face and pulled it back towards him. “Sorry, I couldn't help myself.” He leaned closer until Tony could feel Eichmann's breath on his lips. “God, you're completely at my mercy, aren't you? Just imagine all the things I could do to you right now.”

Tony felt cold sweat dripping down his neck. He couldn't move. He couldn't defend himself. If Eichmann wanted he could –

“But that's not what I'm after,” Eichmann said, turning away to rummage through his bag. “You should be grateful. I'll even let you watch the show.”

Before Tony could figure out what that meant his comm piece suddenly crackled back to life in his ear, picking up bits of the team's frantic voices.

“What's go– _kkh_ on? W– _krhh_ –s he?”

“N– _krhh_ – con– _krhh_ – ing?” Tony listened with bated breath and heaved a sigh of relief when the transmission stabilized. “–an't tell where it's coming from. You got anything?”

“There's a team on the way.” Coulson. “Concentrate on the robots, Captain.”

“Understood.” There was a clanging noise as Steve's shield probably smashed into something. “Widow, Hawkeye, I want you up top. Hulk, get to the machine.”

Eichmann clicked his tongue and when he turned his head Tony could see that he also had a comm piece in his ear. Shit, Eichmann knew – “They'll be here soon.” He pulled what looked like a translucent sheet out of his bag and slapped it over Tony's face. For a terrifying second Tony couldn't breathe but thankfully Eichmann tore it right back off with a cheerful grin.

“Perfect,” he purred, bringing the sheet up to his own face and – Tony blinked. Oh fuck. Oh _no_ –

“Well?” Eichmann said in Tony's voice, smoothing his hair back off Tony's own face with a satisfied grin. “How do I look?”

Tony barely managed a horrified noise in the back of his throat that only made Eichmann laugh. He pulled off his SHIELD uniform, revealing that his entire body was covered in the translucent material, clinging to him like plastic wrap. Eichmann seemed to swim in and out of focus for a few seconds before his body morphed into the shape of the Iron Man armor. 

“Nice,” Eichmann whistled, looking at his gauntlets and charging the repulsors. “This form really is something.” Then he grimaced, rubbing at his chest. “Though I could live without that. Wow, you really hurt like this all the time? That's rough.”

_Go to hell,_ Tony wanted to scream and his eyes seemed to convey the message because the man scoffed at him.

“Look at you. Pitiful. It's a shame I won't get to see you choke on your own spit.” Eichmann smirked. “But I do hope you'll enjoy the show.”

He grabbed the faceplate and snapped it back over Tony's face. JARVIS immediately came back online inside the helmet, but to Tony's horror the feed displayed on his HUD was not his own but simply a mirror of what Eichmann was seeing in his copycat armor.

“Welcome back, Sir,” JARVIS said and he seemed to hesitate for a moment – oh fuck, please, come on – “All systems online. Ready for takeoff.” JARVIS couldn't detect that anything was wrong. Fuck, just how much of Tony's anatomy could that thing on Eichmann's face emulate?

“Thank you, J,” Eichmann said, voice sounding tinny through the faceplate. His chilling amusement still came through. “Now let's find ourselves some entertainment.”

With that he took off, kicking up dust and debris as the repulsors pushed him forward. Tony could only watch in silent fury as Eichmann flew in the direction of Hawkeye's location on the roof.

“Hey guys, did you miss me?” Tony's voice said, the familiar tone grating on Tony's ears.

“Iron Man!” The relief in Steve's voice made Tony's heart sink. “Good to have you back.”

“Good to _be_ back,” Eichmann said cheerfully and Tony could hear Clint scoff as he fired arrow after arrow on his end.

“Where the hell were you? We need you here.”

“Got smashed through a building. Had to fix my comm link. The usual,” Eichmann said offhandedly. “What's the situation?”

On the HUD Tony could see Steve running through the streets below as Eichmann flew overhead. “You see an energy source somewhere on your sensors?”

Eichmann hummed. “Sure do.”

“It's a transmitter. Destroy it.”

They'd figured it out. Tony felt his bones sag with relief. The team would take it out and –

“Aye aye, Cap. Heads up, Barton, I'll give you a lift.”

“Thanks, tinman.”

Tony's blood ran cold.

Eichmann was rapidly approaching the roof where Clint was standing with an outstretched hand. He grabbed the archer by the elbow, pulling a pained sound from Clint's throat –

“Ow, what the –“

And dropped him.

“Clint!” Natasha screamed as the archer tumbled head over heels through the air, desperately fumbling for his grappling arrows but he couldn't seem to grab one –

“Fuck, oh fuck, shit –“ Clint was gasping and Tony could only watch as he fell and fell –

The Hulk came out of nowhere, catching Clint mid-fall only a couple feet before they hit the ground. They tumbled across the asphalt, landing – thankfully – with Clint on top, both of them breathing heavily.

“Oops,” Eichmann said.

“What the fuck was that?” Natasha snapped, hurrying over to get rid of the robots closing in on Clint who still hadn't gotten back up. The Hulk rolled to his feet, growling loudly in the direction of the Iron Man armor that was still hovering above them. 

“'m okay, Tasha,” Clint slurred into the comms, slowly struggling into a sitting position. “I'm –“

Repulsors whined as Eichmann shot at them. The Hulk was faster though, pushing Natasha out of the way to jump up towards the armor with an angry roar. Eichmann evaded him, still shooting even as he deployed several shoulder missiles. Natasha and Clint barely managed to jump behind a wall in time to take cover from the explosions. Clint wobbled on his feet.

“What's going on?” Steve snapped, now also running towards them. “Iron Man, status!”

“He's compromised!” Natasha shouted. “I don't know how. It must've happened when he went offline!”

“Compromised, huh?” Tony's voice asked amusedly. “Oh really? You think it's not me?”

The comms went silent and Tony could see Eichmann zooming in on Natasha and Clint who were both talking rapidly, probably on private comms with Steve. He could see Clint freeze before he pressed a button on his ear and started singing.

“One is the loneliest number that you ever knew –“

Relief flooded Tony so fast he almost felt dizzy. That song was an identification code that only he and Clint even knew existed. There was no way –

“I'm walking on sunshine,” Eichmann sang back cheerfully. “Come on, do you think I'm an idiot?”

Tony's blood froze in his veins. Eichmann knew. And if he knew about this then he knew about _everything_. He had Tony's _memories_. Oh _God_.

“It's the right code,” Clint confirmed grimly.

“Understood,” Steve said and his voice sounded weirdly flat. “Avengers, initiate rays protocol.”

Rays protocol? What the hell was that?

“Steve, are you sure?” Natasha asked and – was that hesitation in her voice?

“Positive.”

After that, silence. Clint and Natasha pulled back but Eichmann could still track them on the sensors as they sprinted behind a building –

And disappeared.

“What the –“ Eichmann mumbled, adjusting the controls but the Avengers were off the grid, completely gone from sight. As Tony watched the SHIELD personnel disappeared too, one heat signature after the other winking out of existence. How was that even possible?

Tony could feel his anxiety building with every second that he didn't know what was happening, listening as hard as he could for a possible clue. But all he could hear was his own ragged breathing, getting louder the more his lungs constricted –

“What's going on?” Eichmann suddenly said, making Tony flinch. “JARVIS? What the –“

He barely turned in time to dodge the EMP arrow coming at him from the side.

“JARVIS, respond!” Eichmann shouted and he was starting to sound a little panicked.

“JARVIS!” Tony suddenly heard and a single heat signature showed up on the HUD, not even fifty feet away from Eichmann. “Override Sierra-Foxtrot-Romeo-Charlie-Alpha-Zulu.”

The armor went still, arms coming down at the sides as JARVIS took control, and Tony could have cried when the AI started landing it safely.

“System recognizes: Steven Grant Rogers. Override authorized,” JARVIS said and Eichmann cursed.

“No! Fuck you, Rogers! Let me go!”

Eichmann fiddled with the controls and Tony panicked because that was the reboot sequence, he was going to wipe the override –

And an EMP arrow struck home, right next to the arc reactor, shutting down all systems at once.

“No!” Tony heard Eichmann howl in anger and winced at the sound of the armor dropping hard on concrete with no way to break its fall. Eichmann definitely deserved it but Tony had a little too much experience with that particular feeling to not be affected by the sound.

He couldn't see anything now, the HUD gone black again, but he could hear approaching footsteps on Eichmann's end. Tony felt relief surging through him. The team had him now, there was no way –

The HUD flickered. Eichmann seemed to be struggling to his knees as the armor powered back up, running on the emergency generator that Tony had installed in case of an EMP attack. Tony wanted to scream.

Before Eichmann could fully get his bearings he got hit by something with enough force to make him stumble. Tony heard the metallic clang as the object rebounded before it got caught by strong hands.

“Stand down,” Steve shouted, his voice hardened with ice-cold fury. “This is your final warning.”

“Thanks, I think I'll take my chances,” Eichmann said, supremely unconcerned.

Clint landed next to Steve, detaching his grappling hook with a grim face. “It doesn't have to end like this.”

“End like what?” Eichmann snapped arrogantly. “In a fight? I don't see an alternative here.”

“You could always surrender,” Steve said and Eichmann laughed.

“You think you can talk me out of this? Grow up, old man.”

Steve barely brought his shield up in time to avoid the repulsor blast Eichmann sent his way but a second later Eichmann was forced to stop his attack when Natasha came at him out of nowhere, clinging to his back. Eichmann shook her off easily, repulsors firing to lift him up into the air only to get caught by a giant green fist.

The Hulk roared as he smashed Eichmann into the ground and Tony winced.

“Don't kill him!” Steve shouted and the Hulk grunted in annoyance before he let Eichmann drop from his hold. That turned out to be a mistake when Eichmann aimed his boots at the Hulk and engaged his thrusters full force right in his face, blasting the Hulk into the wall behind him. He was on his feet just in time to block the shield coming towards him, jumping back to gain some distance – But Clint was already there, swinging his bow at Eichmann and Tony wanted to scream at him to get the fuck away, Eichmann would –

Apparently fall over.

“What –“ Eichmann gasped and looked down at his armor which – was coming apart. Huh.

“Little present from SHIELD,” Natasha said coolly, dropping down from a huge piece of rubble with a remote in her hand. “Fury says hi by the way.”

Eichmann turned his head with a lot of difficulty to see a small device attached to the suit's shoulder, right in the place where Natasha had clung to him earlier. Tony almost wanted to laugh. Poetic justice right there.

“Motherfucker,” Eichmann hissed and the repulsors powered down as Natasha pressed another button. It was more than a little disconcerting that SHIELD had this type of technology but Tony could worry about that later.

The whole team was stepping closer now that Eichmann had lost control over the armor, staring at him with stone-faced expressions. Damn, seeing it from this side was pretty scary. No wonder the bad guys were afraid of them.

“So you caught me,” Eichmann said haughtily. “You must be proud of yourselves.”

“It _is_ a little satisfying,” Clint said, his arms weirdly stiff at his sides.

Eichmann laughed. “I bet. The great Tony Stark on his knees. You're probably getting a real kick out of this.”

“It doesn't have to be like this,” Steve said and his voice sounded strangely flat. “It's not too late to repent. Just tell us why you did it.”

Tony frowned. That wasn't their usual MO. Why weren't they arresting him?

“You still haven't –“ Eichmann coughed. “Figured it out, Cap?” He laughed maniacally. “That's fucking – hilarious –“

Eichmann hacked another cough, this one sounding wet.

“Shit, he needs medical,” Clint said but Steve held him back when he tried to move forward.

“Figured out what?” Steve asked curtly. “I don't have time for games, Tony. What's your play here?”

Tony froze.

“Well, what do _you_ think it is, Captain?” Eichmann asked and the open glee in his voice was threatening to make Tony sick when he suddenly realized why it was there. Steve still thought Eichmann was _him!_ The whole team did! “Come on, give me your best shot. Don't tell me you've never thought about it.”

Steve's face seemed to harden before he responded flatly. “Bringing down SHIELD. Privatizing the superhero business.”

Tony couldn't feel his body anymore. He was entirely numb and his mind was racing, screaming in outrage and anger and _hurt_ –

Steve thought that he would – that he –

“Getting rid of the Avengers so I can go back to doing this on my own and reap all the benefits,” Eichmann elaborated, his voice brimming with amusement. “And done so elegantly too, within a forcefield that knocks out all surveillance, leaves everyone blind and deaf until I've finished getting what I want. All of you, dead and cold at my feet –“

“You _bastard_ ,” Clint ground out and kicked Eichmann in the face. Eichmann coughed and laughed as he spat blood at their feet.

“I almost had you fooled, didn't I? What with the movie nights and upgrades and the fucking _nicknames_ –” He looked up and gave Steve a terrible smile. “Isn't that right, Spangles?”

Steve's face clouded over before it went absolutely blank, and he stepped closer to lean right in Eichmann's face.

“Do _not_ –“ He cut himself off, clearly trying to reign in his anger. “You're done. It's over. We're taking you into custody.”

“Oh, why even bother,” Eichmann drawled. “You know me. I'll be out in thirty minutes.”

Steve's eyes were colder than Tony had ever seen them and even though Steve wasn't really looking at him it still felt like a stab in the heart. Because Steve _thought_ he was. “I don't care. You insist on being a criminal, fine. But don't think that there is any place on earth where we won't find you.”

Eichmann smirked cockily. “You think you can? Man out of time? You don't even know your own place in this world, how could you possibly –”

Tony winced when Steve's fist connected with Eichmann's face, pulling a pained grunt out of the man. Steve grabbed him by the collar, lifting him until he could look him right in the eye.

“I know I said you weren't a hero,” Steve said quietly. “But I didn't expect you to play the villain.”

Eichmann laughed heartily before he looked Steve in the eye with a bloody grin. “Really? I always did think they had the more stylish costumes. But maybe that's just me.”

Steve's eyes narrowed. “I guess I was right about you after all.” Tony's stomach twisted, bracing for the blow he knew was coming, but it still hit like a sucker punch. “You really are a self-absorbed prick.”

For a moment Eichmann only breathed heavily but then he smiled almost kindly, patting Steve's hand. Steve shrugged him off, eyes warily following Eichmann's movements.

“Thank you,” Eichmann said quietly, fondly. “You gave me more than I could've hoped for.” He raised his voice. “Self-absorbed prick. Just a selfish, greedy, self-absorbed bastard who would kill his teammates for a business plan. That's got to smart.”

Steve's brow creased in confusion but over his shoulder Natasha's eyes widened. “Steve –“

“I must say,” Eichmann continued and the grin that spread over his face was downright rotten. “I thought you'd think more highly of him, Captain. He did throw that bomb into space, you know?”

Steve paled at an alarming speed and Clint cursed savagely, notching an arrow to point it right at Eichmann's face.

“Where is he?” Clint demanded, face twisting in anger. “What have you done to him, you fucking –“

“Now now, Mr Barton,” Eichmann scolded him, reaching up to rub his – Tony's – goatee. “You've changed your tune quite quickly, haven't you? A second ago you were ready to put him in prison.”

It was getting hard to breathe. Tony could feel a pressure low in his lungs that hadn't been there before. He was so cold.

“Where –“ Steve choked out, his face still a frightening shade of white. He grabbed Eichmann and shook him, jostling Tony's view of the scene so much it was making him dizzy. “Where the fuck is he? Goddamn you, what have you done to him?”

“It could still be his body,” Natasha cut in, voice sharp like a knife. “Mind control.”

Steve immediately stopped shaking him, now looking frightened rather than angry. “Tony? Are you in there?”

Eichmann snorted. “Mr Stark is not available right now. Please leave a message after the beep.” He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. “Beeeeep.”

Steve's face twisted with fury but Natasha put a hand on his arm, the other at her ear. “Coulson. That team you sent to get Tony earlier. Did you call them back?”

“Yes,” Coulson said briskly.

“Send them out again. Tony might still be in the location he went down in.”

“Understood. We're on our way.”

Eichmann laughed jovially. “Who would've thought. You do have someone with brains on your team.”

Natasha gave him a scathing look. “If they don't find Tony there I'll make you sing like a bird.”

“Promises, promises,” Eichmann drawled.

Tony's throat constricted as the cold spread from his chest out to his limbs. The air was getting thinner.

“Soon it won't matter anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Steve snapped at Eichmann who only gave him a mean smirk.

“You'll see.”

Tony could hear footsteps somewhere below him but it was hard to concentrate. Black spots were dancing in his vision.

“He's here!” someone shouted and then there were hands on him and someone was cursing. “He's paralyzed. Get him on life support.”

“What's going on?” Steve shouted on the comms and Tony could hear Eichmann laughing.

“They're too late!” he said gleefully. “His lungs are failing. He's gone!”

There was more shouting but Tony couldn't hear any of it. The last thing he felt was getting lifted off the ground and a sudden pain in his chest –

And then nothing.

 

He noticed the smell first. Antiseptic and that underlying hint of laundry detergent. A hospital.

Tony couldn't move, his body felt so heavy, but he was distinctly aware of a hand on his and fingers in his hair. He would've loved to open his eyes but it was so hard to try –

He fell asleep again.

The next time he woke up Tony felt like death warmed over. He groaned and immediately someone was there, helping him sit up and holding a cup to his lips. Tony drank the water in big, greedy gulps, breaking away to cough painfully when it went down wrong.

“Hey, nice and slow, you're fine. There's more if you need it.”

When he could finally swallow without his throat feeling like parchment paper Tony pushed the helping hands away, blinking against the light. The assault on his eyes made him whimper and he raised a shaky hand to cover his face.

“Oh, sorry, hold on –“

Tony heard the person get up before the light blessedly dimmed behind his eyelids. He chanced another look and managed to squint his eyes open. Whoever it was next to him was were wearing white. A nurse?

“What –“ he rasped and had to clear his throat before he continued. “What happened?”

“You're in SHIELD's medial ward,” the nurse said and Tony grimaced. SHIELD, ugh. “The rest of the Avengers are debriefing with director Fury but they should be back soon.”

Tony frowned. “The Avengers?”

Then it hit him. Eichmann. The protocol. Suffocating in the armor.

“Sir!” the nurse cried out but Tony couldn't answer, his breathing was coming too fast and there was a pressure in his chest that hurt hurt _hurt_ – He clutched at the arc reactor, clawing the scar tissue around it as if that would help, but it still hurt, oh god, it hurt so bad –

The door slammed open and then there were footsteps, too many of them, they were coming to kill him because he wouldn't build their weapons –

“Move! For fuck's sake, don't crowd him!”

Tony gasped as the familiar voice registered through the darkness of the cave around him.

“Stark! Tony. You're safe, okay? You're in the med bay on the helicarrier, we're bringing you back to the Tower right now. Just hold on.”

A hand touched his and he gratefully grabbed on, blinking up at Coulson as he tried to catch his breath.

“That's good. Just breathe, okay? The team will be here soon.”

Tony froze. The team.

“Tried to – me –“ he gasped and Coulson hummed.

“Yes. We identified the man as Jürgen Eichmann. His file says he's an Austrian scientist working with –“

“Not –“ Tony wheezed. “The team!”

Coulson paused.

“The pro...tocol,” Tony huffed and he opened his eyes just in time to catch Coulson's eyes widening ever so subtly. Tony felt a sharp stab of betrayal. He was in on it too. “You knew?”

Coulson hesitated for a second before he squared his shoulders. “I knew about the protocol, yes.”

Tony made a small noise, trying to pull his hand away. “Why – what did you –“

“Tony!”

Tony whipped around to see Steve leading the rest of the team into his little hospital room. He could feel a mixture of panic and fear churning in his gut.

“Thank god you're awake,” Steve said, obviously relieved as he reached for Tony's other hand –

And Tony snatched it away, scooting backwards on the bed for good measure. Steve stood there for a second longer, his hand still outstretched, before he moved back carefully.

“Sorry,” he said and Tony could hear a bit of hurt in his voice. “I didn't mean –“

“You thought it was me,” Tony croaked and the words burned painfully as he spoke them. “How could you think that? I never – _why?”_

Steve looked absolutely stricken. “Tony...”

“I _never_ would've done any of that. But you thought it was possible. You thought –“ Tony choked on air, coughing violently for a minute. He slapped their hands away when they reached for him.

“Tony, you need to calm down –“

“You thought I'd throw Clint off a _roof_ ,” Tony croaked, his voice cracking painfully on the word. “How could – why would I –“

“Tony, please,” Steve said and he sounded pained. “Calm down! You'll hurt yourself.”

Tony laughed hysterically and Clint gave Coulson an angry look. “You shouldn't have told him yet! For fuck's sake, he's not even out of the hospital –“

“He saw everything,” Natasha stated suddenly, her eyes calculating as she watched Tony, and Clint froze, looking between them.

“What? Tony, you –“

“Out,” Tony rasped. When nobody moved he started swinging, not sure who he was aiming for but wanting them gone, _now_. “Out! Everyone _out!”_

He barely registered the shuffling of shoes on linoleum as everyone cleared out, leaving him alone with only his own gasping breaths for company. It took a long time before he managed to calm down and even then the despair he felt kept him from any sort of peaceful rest.

“Mr Stark?”

He looked up to find a young nurse by his bedside, holding a tray with a glass of water and two pills.

“You should take these,” she said kindly, putting the tray on his bedside table. “They will make you feel better.”

Tony stared at the pills for a long moment before he looked up at the nurse who was now nervously wringing her hands, obviously waiting for him to follow her instructions. He tilted his head. “I'll take them on one condition.”

“Um. Okay?” the nurse said, looking politely confused. “What's that?”

Tony looked at her grimly. “Get me a Starkpad. Now.”

 

Tony eventually found the file, buried deep in SHIELD's secure server behind several passcodes and firewalls. It took him a minute to crack them but before long JARVIS had downloaded it onto his private server, throwing it up on the tablet. Tony frowned at the title.

R.A.E.S Protocol (Rogue: Anthony Edward Stark)

Rogue, huh? That was one way of putting it.

Tony scrolled down and scanned the contents, his frown deepening with every line.

_Initiate R.A.E.S protocol if AES_

_> engages in combat with friendlies_

_> starts aiding the enemy or actively sabotaging allies_

_> expresses intent to do either of the above_

_If R.A.E.S protocol is in effect proceed as follows_

_> radio silence_

_> > disable all known tracking devices_

_ >>> shut down Iron Man armor_

_ >>>> only remove armor if at all necessary_

Very clinical so far. Disable the armor and Tony was pretty much done. The confidence SHIELD had in him was truly heartwarming.

_Advantages_

_> long-distance weaponry_

_> > counteract by forcing AES to the ground and into close-range combat_

_> AI system designation J-A-R-V-I-S_

_> > use Avengers override code to disable AI_

So SHIELD knew he'd given Steve an override. Fantastic. Tony really should've been more clear on who exactly could be trusted with this information when he gave it to Steve.

The protocol went on to list the known specs of Tony's armor as well as his weapons and fighting style. It was so comprehensive that Tony was almost a little impressed. He'd known that SHIELD scientists were chomping at the bit for some of Tony's blueprints but he hadn't thought that they'd actually gotten this far with their analysis. It was actually pretty alarming.

And then the next section started. _Weaknesses,_ Tony read, a cold weight settling in his stomach.

_> latent alcoholism, past drug abuse and self-esteem issues_

_> pressure points: Virginia “Pepper” Potts, James Rhodes, Harold Hogan_

_> mentions of Howard or Maria Stark elicit strong emotional response_

_> > use to distract and/or bait_

Jesus Christ, was SHIELD for real with this?

_> fatal point of weakness: arc reactor_

_> > if arc reactor is damaged AES goes into cardiac arrest after approx. two minutes and dies within fifteen minutes max._

Tony was breathing heavily, gripping the tablet with white knuckles. God, reading it like that, the way he would read a SHIELD report on the villain of the week –

_> AES poses a threat to global security systems, the international market and state secrets all over the world. His interference with any of the above is to be prevented at all costs_.

_> threat assessment level: 10_

_> lethal force advised_

Lethal force.

Tony's knees suddenly felt very weak. He fell back against the headrest, a hand clasped over his mouth to muffle his shocked gasp.

Lethal force advised. _Advised?_

SHIELD thought the best course of action was to _kill him?_

Tony's head was spinning. He felt sick. And the worst thing was that he could see where they were coming from with all this. It would be child's play for him to rob a bank, crack FBI encryptions, even acquire nuclear codes if he wanted to. But – Jesus, did they really trust him so little?

It was probably a bit hypocritical of Tony to think like that, seeing as he didn't trust SHIELD as far as he could throw a tank. But then again _he_ had never made contingency plans that involved killing Fury. What the fuck was this?

And why was it only him?

Tony thought back to what it had been like out in the field, everyone moving as one to execute the protocol, no need to give commands or anything. They had all been briefed on this. And maybe that hurt worse than everything else, the thought that they'd all sat around a table and discussed shooting Tony out of the sky and using _lethal force –_

Tony couldn't remember ever being invited to any meetings about taking down the Black Widow. Or the Hulk for that matter. Did SHIELD really see him as a bigger threat than a giant green rage monster? And what the fuck was the deal with Thor, wouldn't SHIELD have contingency plans for _him_ going rogue? The guy was a literal alien!

Not that Tony didn't trust them, he'd vouch for each and every member of his team, but surely if SHIELD was taking countermeasures against the Avengers Tony couldn't be their first priority!

Or the only one.

It didn't make any sense and while Tony had never held any particularly warm feelings for Fury and his gang of spies he had to admit that this hurt. A lot. 

“Stark?” Tony looked up to find agent Hill standing in the door to his room, looking at him with an inscrutable expression. “The director wants to see you.”

Tony put his tablet down with a humorless smirk. “Funny. I was just about to ask for him.”

Hill lead him down the corridor and through various winding passages before they stopped in front of a heavy metal door. She knocked and stepped aside when Fury called them in, looking at Tony with a frown.

“Go on,” she said coolly and Tony rolled his eyes, pushing past her.

“Always a pleasure, agent Surly.”

The door shutting behind him was her only reply. Charming.

“Stark,” Fury greeted him, standing behind the desk with his back to the door like the drama queen he was. He turned and Tony was already pissed off because it _did_ make him look cool. Dammit. “Take a seat.”

Tony stepped forward to sprawl in the chair in front of Fury's desk, as nonchalantly as he could make it. “So. You didn't tell me you had plans to kill me.”

Fury stared back at him unflinchingly. “I see you've entirely missed the point of that protocol.”

“I like to summarize,” Tony said and Fury rolled his eyes. Well, eye.

“The protocol was necessary. I'm sure in light of recent events you would agree.”

“Sure I would,” Tony said coolly. “I just think it's a little strange that there are no protocols in place for any of the other Avengers.”

“There are,” Fury said and Tony blinked, momentarily thrown for a loop.

“What?”

Fury gave him a shrewd look. “You really think I'd let a norse god run around our planet without a plan to take him down if necessary?”

“That did strike me as odd,” Tony admitted, narrowing his eyes. “So there's a protocol for all of us and I don't know a single one. Why?”

Fury just looked at him silently. Tony gritted his teeth, hands clenching into fists.

“Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems like you people assumed that me going rogue was an inevitability.”

“I wouldn't call it that,” Fury said evenly, completely unimpressed by Tony's mounting anger. “But you do have a higher risk factor than the others, yes.”

“Bullshit!” Tony spat. “I've done my duty just like anyone else.”

“And you have significant resources, a history of hacking into my database, and have managed to work around eighty percent of my security measures.” Fury narrowed his eyes. “And something tells me that the only reason that percentage isn't higher is because you haven't bothered with the rest of it yet.”

“Well you built technology specifically designed to take me down,” Tony countered and Fury raised an eyebrow.

“And you're telling me that you won't protect your suit against all of the measures I've taken as soon as you get back to your workshop?”

Tony glared at him, unable to refute it. Like hell would he leave himself vulnerable.

“That's what I thought.” Fury fixed Tony with a hard look. “I don't doubt your loyalty, Stark. You've been a good addition to the Avengers and the team benefits greatly from your presence. But –“ He put his hands on the table, towering over Tony. “You're a dangerous man. Your influence in this world is a lot bigger than we can account for. And I can't risk showing my hand to you, not because I think you're planning to take over the world, but because I can't let you bypass the few ways in which I can keep you in check.”

“That's –“ Tony wanted to protest but Fury cut him off.

“If I hadn't instated that protocol, how well do you think the Avengers would have held up against Eichmann today? Thinking that it was you?” Fury scoffed. “He had full access to your suit. To your _brain_. They couldn't have taken him down without killing him. I provided a more humane solution.”

Tony clenched his fists, silently fuming.

“Think about that,” Fury said, clearly dismissing Tony. “I know I can't keep you from upgrading the suit but as long as I am director of SHIELD I will always make sure to have an ace up my sleeve. Remember that.”

“The protocol advises lethal force,” Tony gritted out and Fury's glare wavered for a second.

“Yeah, well,” Fury hummed. “All of them do.”

Tony's mouth fell open.

“As a final solution only,” Fury amended. “But it's in there for a reason. If any of you were to switch sides we can't let you go easy. You know too much.”

“That's –“ insane, Tony wanted to say but sadly he could see the logic behind it. Shit logic but logic none the less. Dammit.

“I hope we've come to an understanding,” Fury said, reaching down into his desk and pulling out a folder. He slid it across the table. “Now that you know about the protocols I can't keep you from looking them up. Might as well do it on my terms.”

Tony grabbed the folder without opening it and struggled to his feet. His head was swimming a bit more than usual.

“Go back to medical,” Fury said. “You need to rest.”

“Whatever,” Tony mumbled, staggering towards the door. It wasn't his most dignified exit but it would have to do.

Outside agent Hill was already waiting with a wheelchair which Tony scoffed at before hobbling down the hallway with one hand on the wall. Thankfully nobody followed him and he made it to the hospital room on his own, falling heavily onto the bed. His head was killing him and the pills on the nightstand looked more than a little tempting but he couldn't allow himself to rest yet.

He had some reading to do.

 

Tony lasted three days before he snuck out to the armory, grabbed his suit and flew back to the tower.

It was a relief to be able to get to work on the suit. The fight was still all too fresh in his mind and if Fury and his band of merry men could figure out ways to take him down then a villain could too. Tony really had to be more careful moving forward.

By the time he was satisfied JARVIS was getting very insistent with his threats to call Pepper so Tony trudged up to the kitchen to heat up some leftovers before he went to bed. He blamed it on being tired that he severely misjudged the timing.

“Tony!” Steve exclaimed as he entered the kitchen and Tony startled so much he almost walked right into the fridge. He looked up to see Clint and Natasha there as well which – yeah, great. Just what he needed.

“Fuck,” he said with feeling and Steve's tentative smile dropped off his face. “Sorry. Didn't know you'd be here.”

“How are you feeling?” Natasha asked and Tony shrugged, grabbing some dubious looking tinfoil container from the fridge. He was hungry enough that it wouldn't matter what it was anyway.

“Great. Busy,” Tony said curtly. “If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with –“

“We need to talk about this.”

Tony sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat. “Yeah, can we maybe postpone that talk? Til never?”

“Tony,” Steve said and that admonishing tone never failed to get Tony's hackles up.

“Okay,” Tony said curtly, turning to face them head on. “Let's talk then. You guys thought I went off the rails and became a villain. What's up with that?”

Steve grimaced. “Tony –“

“I mean I get it, I'm not the most stable person around but surely we've come a bit farther than assuming that I would kill you guys just for the heck of it.”

Clint glared at him. “He knew our identification code. What were we supposed to think?”

“Oh I don't know,” Tony said, his anger only rising. “Maybe you could've tapped into your extensive experience with mind control for a clue?”

Clint paled and Tony immediately felt bad.

“That's uncalled for,” Natasha said cuttingly and Tony raised his hands.

“Okay, fine. But seriously, none of you even suspected that it wasn't me? I thought you were supposed to be super spies.”

“We should've known it wasn't you,” Clint said wryly. “Eichmann didn't seem to know that we had a contingency plan. You would have been prepared.”

“Your confidence in me is touching,” Tony said dryly and Clint raised his arms, a guilty look crossing his face so fast Tony almost didn't catch it.

“Sorry,” he said and that was even more surprising. “I didn't mean it like that. I just should've guessed that you would've been smarter about it. If you'd ever – which you wouldn't of course, but - I'll just stop talking now.”

“Thanks,” Tony said sarcastically. “I'm just surprised you didn't bring up Howard or my latent alcoholism to test him. I hear it's supposed to elicit an emotional response.”

“You know,“ Natasha stated bluntly and Tony sighed.

“Know what?”

“The protocol. You've read it.”

He gave her a wry smile. “Was I not supposed to? Fury basically handed it to me on a silver platter.”

“In SHIELD's encrypted files.”

“Close enough.” Tony shrugged. “Sometimes I feel like Fury leaves breadcrumbs for me on purpose so he can test out his bullshit security against someone who actually knows what they're doing.”

“We're not supposed to read our own files,” Steve said disapprovingly and Tony scoffed.

“Yeah well I didn't know that,” he said testily. “Excuse me for being curious.”

“What are you talking about?” Steve asked and Tony scowled at him.

“Look, I do like preparing for eventualities. Sadly it never occurred to me that my own team might be planning on taking me down.”

Steve huffed. “Tony, you know that's not what the protocol is for.”

“No, of course not,” Tony said. “It's just in case I go rogue. Which was apparently only a matter of time.”

“Nobody thinks that,” Steve said with a frown and Tony chuckled.

“Fury does. That's why he made the protocol in the first place.”

“He made protocols for all of us.”

Tony smiled wryly. “Protocols which I was not privy to.”

“What?” Clint asked and the honestly surprised faces of the team made something in Tony's chest unfurl. They hadn't known. Thank god. Tony didn't know what he would've done if his team had been in on that decision.

“Fury never sent me those protocols. I wasn't aware that there were any security measures getting set in place.”

“So that's why –“ Steve said before he cut himself off, eyes widening with something like despair. “Wait, you thought we had a protocol specifically for you?”

Tony shrugged and Steve made a pained noise. “What? It's not too farfetched, is it? Fury has done worse things to keep me in check.”

“So he deliberately kept you out of the loop.” Natasha sounded as nonplussed as ever but for a second Tony thought he saw a flicker of anger in her eyes. “As an additional security measure against you.”

“That's cruel,” Clint said lowly and Tony waved him off nonchalantly.

“He had his reasons,” Tony said with a crooked smile. “Apparently he doesn't trust me very much. Not that I blame him.”

A hand fell heavily on his shoulder and Tony looked up to see Steve's face twisted with guilt. “I'm so sorry, Tony. I swear, if I had known that you had no idea what was going on we would have explained things to you before –“

“It's fine,” Tony brushed him off. “I'm glad you guys didn't know.”

“Of course we didn't know!” Steve exclaimed heatedly, startling Tony. “We had no idea that Fury was keeping you in the dark. And I will definitely have words with him about that as soon as I get back to SHIELD.”

“You don't need to fight my battles for me,” Tony said but he couldn't quite keep the warmth out of his voice because Steve getting mad on his behalf felt better than he wanted to admit.

“It's not about that,” Steve said sternly. “You're our teammate. And if Fury honestly can't see how much each and every Avenger has proved themselves over the years I won't stand for it. We're not going to let him treat you like this. You're one of us.”

Embarrassingly Tony could feel a lump forming in his throat. “Thanks, Cap.”

Steve smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder. “We'll figure this out. Together.”

Clint and Natasha echoed the sentiment and Tony felt like a weight was taken off his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had this kind of support from anyone but Rhodey or Pepper. It felt good.

Tony cleared his throat. “Anyway. I was thinking of upgrading your grappling arrows, Barton. We don't want to rely on the Hulk to catch you if you go tumbling off a roof again.”

Clint grinned. “Now we're talking.”

They spent the rest of the morning together, bouncing ideas off each other and playing cards. And later, when Tony was in the workshop, both Thor and Bruce came by respectively to apologize. Thor with a grand speech about brotherhood and honor and Bruce looking a little green around the gills when Tony mentioned Fury. It meant more to him than he could possibly say.

In the end this was all that mattered. And the next time Fury tried to fuck him over, well. He'd have to take on the whole team.


End file.
